Nehemiah 9: Confession – Part III
Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023
As we enter Holy Week with the celebration of Palm Sunday, we remind ourselves that human history has the unmistakable pattern of flight and return. We flee when we sense danger. We shrink to hide when we are overwhelmed. We reject the story before us that reminds us of our shortcomings. But the powerful story of the coming week is one of return, redemption, forgiveness and a love that is so powerful that it can erase any transgression.
Today we take time to visit the story of Ezra to look for the clues it gives us to our own road to retrieval, renovation, and recovery. We stray and yet while we wander the roadways that lure us away from God who sustains us, we hear the voice that continues to call. We celebrate a life we believe is free when we throw away our relationship with Christ to live a life with no controls, but still we hear that quiet voice that continues to beckon. We sink into the easy life that offers no obstacle to our whims and yet we feel the abiding presence of the Spirit.
Ezra and the Israelites return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city that had sheltered them and had represented their unique relationship with God. Together with Ezra and Nehemiah the people respond to that voice that has never ceased calling. This distance and return are foreshadowed in the Christmas story that we have been visiting. We know that the Holy Family flee to Egypt to avoid the hatred and envy of Herod. We also know that they return once God calls them back.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo: The Holy Family with Little Bird
Today we return. Whether we have fled because we have felt no need of God, or because we experience deep danger, we know we must return. We hear the call of the Shepherd’s voice, we feel the warmth of Christ’s love, we remember the loving embrace of the Spirit. And we return to the sure safety of the Holy Family. In the days of Holy Week that unfold before us, let us confess that we are not always present to God’s call. And let us enter this holy time with the surest and purest of intentions that we re-commit ourselves daily to the unfailing love of God.
Tomorrow, Holy Monday.
Images from: https://www.needpix.com/search/palm%20sunday and https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Familia_del_pajarito
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